The increasing use of silver nanoparticles, (AgNPs), will inevitably result in their release into the environment and thereby cause the exposure to plants. It was claimed that using AgNPs is a safe and efficient method to preserve and treat agents of disease in agriculture. This study tries to understand the protein populations and sub-populations and follow up environmental AgNPs stresses. To accomplish these, the action of homemade spherical AgNPs colloidal suspension against Oryza sativa L. was investigated by a proteomic approach (2-DE and NanoLC/FT-ICR MS identification). Twenty-eight responsive (decrement/increment in abundance) proteins were identified. Proteomic results revealed that an exposure of O. sativa L., root with different concentrations of AgNPs resulted in an accumulation of protein precursors, indicative of the dissipation of a proton motive force. The identified proteins are involved in oxidative stress tolerance, Ca(2+) regulation and signaling, transcription and protein degradation, cell wall and DNA/RNA/protein direct damage, cell division and apoptosis. The expression pattern of these proteins and their possible involvement in the nontoxicity mechanisms were discussed.
